Syrian Protesters Look to Ramadan

A WSJ Staff Reporter

July 30, 2011

DAMASCUS—Syrian antigovernment activists, looking ahead to the Muslim holy month of Ramadan as an opportunity to intensify their monthslong effort to topple the regime of President Bashar al-Assad, protested in the thousands on Friday.

The government, in an effort to prevent such a shift in momentum, closed at least one mosque and on Friday deployed security forces in several cities in a crackdown that activists said killed at least...